Chrétien on Trump: If he's elected, 'We'll live with it'

One of the most seasoned global political observers in Canada, former prime minister Jean Chrétien, said Wednesday that if unlikely Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is elected president of the United States, “We’ll live with it.”

Chrétien was ambiguous about what Trump in the White House would mean for Canadians. “No one can know what exactly will happen in all the portfolios with him because he has an unconventional way of delegating problems,” he said Wednesday following a question-and-answer event he delivered in French at the Library and Archives Canada.

The long time politician, now 82, may have been coy on discussing the controversial businessman, but he was candid about his own political career, which spanned four decades, starting in 1963 with Liberal prime minister Lester B. Pearson.

He described his friendship with Pearson as a “sporting relationship” — they both enjoyed playing baseball. He recalled a match between MPs and journaliststhat ended with more than just a winning game.

“I was the pitcher for the MPs, and we won. It’s how I got my seat in the cabinet,” he joked.

From being a member of Pearson’s cabinet through the Trudeau governments to a decade as prime minister from 1993 to 2003, he had many career highlights. Spearheading the anti-personnel landmine Ottawa Treaty was amongst one of those shining moments.

When the former president of the Red Cross, Cornelio Sommaruga met with him in the mid-90s on the issue of landmines, he took up the role of persuading countries to ban the lethal weapons. By the time the Ottawa Treaty was signed in 1997, over 120 countries had agreed to implement the declaration.

But the U.S. was not of those nations.

“I almost convinced the U.S. to sign on. I spent all night on the phone with (Bill) Clinton talking about it. He said he wanted to sign it, but his chief of staff didn’t.

Despite his inability to sway American opinion, he said he was proud of the treaty.

Although Chrétien had warm relations with both Clinton and former president George W. Bush, he said he wasn’t going to act like “the 51st state.”

This streak of independence surfaced in 2003 when he refused to join Bush and former British prime minister Tony Blair in the invasion of Iraq.

He said Canada would only join the ‘coalition of the willing’ if it were supported by the United Nations and by NATO. Standing his ground on the situation led to tension between Canada and its allies.

“Bush’s secretary said ‘we thought you would join us, you said you wouldn’t, but we didn’t believe you’,” he said.

Chrétien said Blair was pushier than Bush about going to war. He joked that the prime minister across the pond probably said to Bush, “Canada is a colony. I’ll deal with that Chretien guy.”

Asked if he felt there could be any repercussions for supporting the war, he said “No. Everybody knows we are representing a country. It’s not personal.”

Although he reminisced about his past, Chretien reflected on some issues that are ongoing. As a former minister of Indian Affairs, he stressed patience in the desire to see change in the lives of First Nations peoples.

“It’s complicated, and we have to be patient. Education is the key and mobility is important,” he said, adding Prime Minster Justin Trudeau made the right decision to invest billions in supporting First Nations.

He said there were complex problems with no quick fix, but promoting cultural diversity is part of the solution. After all, he said, Canada is diverse but united.